


Trust fall

by Lerine



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Action, F/M, Feels, I'll keep updating the tags as I go, Multi, Redemption, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-06-18 19:41:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15493233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lerine/pseuds/Lerine
Summary: Grima is defeated.Robin is back.Everything looks like it’s back to normal, at least until Robin stopping Gangrel’s attempt to leave the Sheperds, leads them both in the middle of something much bigger. A new threat, a new enemy.And with it the time has come to deal with the past. One way or anotherOh, and with feelings too. Those always complicate everything, don’t they?





	1. Getaway and Recapture

**Author's Note:**

> The fandom needs more Gangrel/Robin fanfics, and I'm here to deliver.  
> Btw, if you see any errors, please tell me :) And leave a kudos or a review if you liked the chapter!
> 
> Enjoy!

It was past two in the morning when Robin’s head slipped from her palm and banged on the table with a thud. She immediately reared back from the pain, massaging her forehead. She had been planning new tactics all day, and hadn’t paid attention to how late it had been.

With a sigh she stretched her arms and legs, then dropped on the table.

A little more than a year had passed since they had defeated Grima once and for all, and sometimes, when exhaustion hit her particularly hard, Robin couldn’t stop the images and emotions of that terrifying battle from seeping into her mind again, as if it all had happened just the day before.

She remembered the pain of knowing that she had to sacrifice herself, and the much stronger force that drove her to actually do it: love.

Love for those who had become her dearest friends, her family.

Those who had been standing right next to her in all the battles, and who cared for her deeply, just as she did for them.

She hadn’t been ready to say goodbye, but to save them? She would, without regrets.

Needless to say, when she woke up months later to Chrom’s and Lissa’s voices, for a second she had thought that everything must have been some kind of dream, but as soon as she heard Chrom say “Welcome back”, she knew that wasn’t the case.

She had never felt so happy in her life.

So after going back to the Shepherds, Robin started working on her tactics twice as hard than before. Sure, Grima was gone for good, but that didn’t mean that the Ylisse had no more enemies. Yeah, the number of conflicts had decreased considerably, but there were still a lot of brigands, and groups of people who simply didn’t like the newfound peace, or who were explicitly hostile to Chrom.

That was why Robin couldn’t just slack off now.

After a yawn she stood up from the chair, rubbing her eyes.

She really wanted to continue planning a little more, but the exhaustion was starting to become too much, and she was pretty sure that even if she got back to work, she would probably fall asleep again.

She made a resigned face and decided to call it a day and go to sleep, but as she was about to snuff out the candle on the table, a passing shadow just outside her tent made her stop.

Who could still be up at that hour? Except for her of course.

Maybe it was Tharja? Or Henry? It seemed like those two never slept.

Once she had joked with Lissa that the reason Henry’s eyes were always closed was because he was actually sleeping all the time, when he wasn’t hexing someone, that is.

But why would either one of them be _running_ , in the middle of the night? If there was some kind of emergency, she would have been one of the first people to know, so…

Robin decided that to keep guessing was pretty useless, and that it would be better to see by herself who the mysterious shadow belonged to.

She flapped the side of her tent open, and looked around.

It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness outside, meanwhile she let herself be guided by the fast but soft sound of steps. She looked right in that direction, and when her eyes finally focused, they went wide.

 _“Gangrel!”_ she thought alarmed. _“Why is he leaving?”_

Her first thought was that maybe he wanted to betray them by meeting someone in the middle of the night to alert them of the Shepherds position, so they could take them by surprise and attack them, but she immediately put that thought aside.

_“I have to give him the benefit of the doubt, after all he has changed and helped us.”_

But then why? Why would Gangrel just leave without saying anything, and in the middle of the night? It was pretty obvious he was trying not to be caught.

 _“Well, too bad for him!”_ Robin thought as she left her tent, determined to not let him get away without an explanation.

\---

It took her a while, but she managed to catch up to him. Meanwhile, she noticed, they had reached a vast, grassy field. She could see a little forest in front a group of mountains in the distance. They weren’t far, at a more or less fifteen minutes’ walk from where they had made camp.

She decided to make herself known, as to avoid Gangrel noticing her before she wanted to.

“Gangrel!” she shouted.

The former Mad King stopped dead in his tracks, but didn’t turn around.

So he really hadn’t noticed her. She almost thought he had, and was just playing with her.

“Gangrel,” she called out again, this time with a more calm tone of voice. “Why are you leaving?”

It surprised Robin herself that she didn’t ask “Where?” he was going, instead. If she had to be honest she felt a little insulted that Gangrel would just leave like that.

She had thought that he had started, at least a little, to consider the Shepherds…what? Friends? Family? She wasn’t sure either.

Just as she was about to speak up again, a shadow projected on the grass distracting her. When she looked up she saw what appeared to be the silhouette of a wyvern against the blinding light of the moon. And then another one, and another.

There was an entire group of wyverns flying over their heads. She could barely make out the shapes of the men riding them, and the weapons they were holding.

That gave her pause. Armed men, riding wyverns, in the middle of the night? Something was definitely not right.

Robin turned her attention to where the wyverns were flying, in the mountains’ direction. She was pretty sure that there were no villages in the vicinity, so why were they going there? It all seemed more and more strange.

She started walking in the same direction, passing Gangrel.

He had been watching the wyverns too, but after seeing Robin move had immediately shifted his attention back to her. Now she was standing a few steps ahead of him, looking at him.

Oh, he knew the look she was giving him very well. She always made that face when expecting someone to make a decision, and at that moment the unsaid sentence her look was conveying was, _‘Are you coming with me or not?’_

That look made Gangrel wish he had chosen another day to leave. Of course this was just his luck. Not that he couldn’t do it anyway. He didn’t have to go with her, he wasn’t bound to her by some kind of contract or anything, and yet…

After a roll of his eyes and a _‘tsk’_ under his breath he took a step towards her. She made a little smile, glad that he had decided to go with her. Her questions about his attempted escape could wait until later.

Robin turned again in the direction of the mountains and started running, Gangrel behind her.

\---

When they reached their destination Robin was impressed that they got there relatively fast. At the beginning of her journey she was pretty sure she wouldn’t have been able to run that much time non-stop. Gangrel on the other hand, was wheezing beside her clearly not accustomed to all that running.

As it turned out Robin’s instinct hadn’t betrayed her earlier. They were hidden behind the trees and bushes that were part of the forest that surrounded the mountains, and she could clearly see armed men dismounting from the wyverns. Other men were waiting for them at what appeared to be an entrance to the mountain, most likely a cave.

It looked like they were speaking, but unfortunately she couldn’t hear them because of the distance. Robin turned to Gangrel.

“Can you hear anything of what they are saying?” she whispered.

“Of course not.” Answered Gangrel. “We are definitely too far away.”

Robin made a resigned face. Maybe they could get closer without getting spotted? But that would be too risky. They were severely outnumbered, things could turn real ugly, real fast.

Suddenly, something moved behind them, she barely had the time to register the movement when she felt pain behind her head and her vision turned black.

\---

Robin opened her eyes to an upside down world. She quickly noticed that it was because she was lying on the floor. A sharp pain on the base of her neck, and the sensation of her hands and feet tied up, told her that her fear was now reality.

They had been spotted and captured.

Gangrel lied next to her, and as he was slowly coming back to his senses, a voice rumbled menacingly.

“So, who do we have here?”

Robin turned her head a little. The voice belonged to a burly man. Messy brown hair and a scar on his left cheek gave him a vaguely menacing look. He was grinning and had his arms crossed.

She felt like she should have been a lot more intimidated by him than she actually was, however, after defeating Grima, her definition of “menacing” had changed drastically.

When she didn’t respond to the question, someone pulled her up so she was sitting on her knees. Now she could clearly see that they were surrounded.

She briefly looked in Gangrel’s direction and she saw him in the same situation, on his knees with his hands and legs tied.

Robin had to think, and fast. What could they do? If only she could free her hands, she could attack them with her…tome…

 _“Shit! My tome!”_ she thought alarmed. In her hurry to catch up to Gangrel she hadn’t even thought of taking her tome! Nor a sword, nothing! She was completely unarmed.

_“Dammit! Nice move, tactician! Though, I never would have thought that confronting Gangrel would have ended up like this.”_

“Hmm?” the burly man got closer to Gangrel, a spark of recognition in his eyes.

“If it isn’t the fallen king of Plegia! To what do I owe the honor?” he said, his tone clearly mocking.

“I am not a king anymore, just a dog.” Replied Gangrel curtly. The man seemed to not appreciate his tone of voice because he scrunched up his nose and got even closer to Gangrel.

When he was close enough he curled his fist and punched him square in the nose. Gangrel didn’t say anything, nor tried to fight back.

“Hey!” Robin yelled at the man, who totally ignored her.

“You’re a dog all right. But you’re wrong on one thing.” He said while he wiped out the smear of blood on his fist, “you always were.”

At that point Robin spoke up, clearly irritated. “Hey! Leave him be!”

She was starting to think that this man, as many others, had something of a personal grudge against Gangrel. She wasn’t surprised in the slightest. He had done a lot of bad things when he was still king, after all. Some of which she didn’t even want to think about, but she feared that if she let that man go on, he might even kill Gangrel.

“Oh? And who should you be for ordering me around, girl?” he asked switching his attention to Robin.

“No one you should care about. Now, let us go.” She answered in the most commanding tone she could muster.

The man made an amused face and laughed at her. “No one? Well then, if you really are no one, I guess we can just get rid of you.”

He gestured at one of the men that were standing close by and watching the scene unfold. The man got close to Robin and unsheathed his sword.

Robin kept her eyes on it.

To the others it might have seemed like she was just waiting for the blow. Not struggling, not saying a word. Instead she was focusing on getting ready to somehow avoid the blow.

Which never came, interrupted by a loud shout.

“ROBIN! Her name is Robin.” It was Gangrel’s voice.

At that she immediately turned in his direction, eyes wide.

“Gangrel! What are you doing?” she half-shouted, half-whispered to him.

“Saving your life, you idiot!” he retorted.

The reason why Robin had no intention on revealing her name became quickly obvious when the man who was going to kill her stepped back with a scared expression. Almost all of the bandits did.

“Robin?” said the burly man. “The famous tactician,” he smiled “and Fell Dragon.”

Robin was visibly uneasy. She was almost tempted to correct them. Sure she still had Fell Blood in her, but it was useless. Grima was dead, it couldn’t hurt no one anymore, nor manipulate her in any way. Or so she hoped.

The situation was getting out of hand. Now that they knew who she was, what would they do? She almost hoped that they were part of those who still remained in the Grimleal, so she could try and trick them in letting them go. But alas, she wasn’t so lucky.

“This must be our lucky day! You see, we were hired by someone who gave us your name and told us to find you. And look! We didn’t even have to come looking for you! You came right to us!” he said, laughing. “I’m sure they will be absolutely thrilled to see you, and us to see them, since they promised us a nice amount of money to find you. And I guess I’ll throw in the ex-Mad King for good measure too.” He said, his expression calculating. “But for now, good night!”

Robin saw movement from the corner of her eye when her world went black for the second time in the same night.


	2. The Art of Getting By

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the second chapter, as promised!  
> Enjoy, and leave a review or a kudos if you do! ;)

When Robin woke up, her first instinct was to get up as fast as possible. Unfortunately, her body wasn’t on the same page and when she tried to, her head started pounding and her back aching.

“Uuugh…” was all she was able to say, while she tried to make the headache subside by rubbing her temples.

“Morning, sleeping beauty.” said a familiar voice.

Robin finally managed to open her eyes. The first thing she saw was Gangrel, sitting opposite from her. From the looks of it they were in some kind of cell, suspicion that was confirmed once she turned around and saw bars instead of an actual door, and an armed half-asleep guard lounging on a chair outside.

“Hey” she said. Then, having just recalled the punch Gangrel had taken, asked “How’s your nose?”

Gangrel shrugged, “I’ve been worse, this is nothing.”

Robin was a little worried, but she decided to drop the subject.

“Where are we?” she asked instead, then quickly corrected herself when Gangrel rose his eyebrows, “I mean, I can see we’re in a cell, but, where is the cell?”

Gangrel chuckled. “Why does that matter? Shouldn’t we find a way out of here first?”

Robin rolled her eyes, “That’s why I’m asking! Even if we get out of here, if we don’t know where we are, we might find ourselves in the middle of an even bigger group of bandits than before.”

Gangrel didn’t seem really convinced. “Huh. If you say so. Anyway, I was out cold almost as long as you were, so I can’t really help.”

Robin sighed.

“But…” continued Gangrel, sniffing the air “We are near the sea, that much I can tell you.”

Robin looked impressed and Gangrel waved his hand dismissively, “I’ve been under a sea dog for a while, remember?”

 _“Oh that’s right!”_ she thought _“When we found him he was working for the self-appointed ‘_ _Southron Sea King’.”_

“All right, that means once we get out of here we can try to book passage on a ship. But first we have to get out of here.” Announced Robin, paying attention to not raise her voice too much and alert the guard outside.

She did stand up though, and examined the outside of the cell.

The guard was still half-asleep. Beside him there was a table with some junk on it, and what she supposed were the keys to their cell. _“Great!”_ she thought happily.

The other things that attracted her interest were the weapons splayed on the floor. There were a couple of worn out tomes, a sword and a lance, no doubt the belongings of the ex-occupants of the cell.

Robin gathered her thoughts before addressing Gangrel.

“Let’s see. The first thing is to get out of the cell and take that guard out, so he can’t alert his buddies. Then we’ll take those weapons,” she pointed at them “so we can at least defend ourselves should we come to it.

Then we search for a village. Once we do, we must find out exactly where we are, so we can decide where to go next.”

Gangrel nodded slowly, while Robin furrowed her brows in thought.

“Now, I have a plan for getting us out of here.” Robin continued “the man from yesterday…yesterday?”

She looked at Gangrel for confirmation.

“Yes, no more than a day must have gone by.”

“OK, well, he said that he wanted to take us to someone, and I suppose he wants us to be alive when he does, or he would have killed us already. In any case, this means we have to move fast, so hear me out, here’s what we are going to do…”

\---

They were in position. Robin and Gangrel exchanged a glance, and then it began.

Robin closed her eyes and Gangrel shouted.

“Hey! You there, guard! I need help!”

The guard roused from his half-sleep with a jolt, clearly annoyed. He got closer to the cell’s bars and blurted out a “What? What do you want, rat?”

Gangrel put on the most worried face he could muster. “It’s the girl! She passed out! She has a rare syndrome, and needs a healer now, or she’s done for!”

The guard seemed at a loss.

“Didn’t you hear me, you oaf? She’s going to die! Didn’t your boss wanted to get her to someone? Still breathing possibly?” he insisted.

“R-right, I-I’ll take her to our healer.” He stammered and turned slightly to get the keys on the table. Then he opened the cell, while pointing his own weapon in Gangrel’s direction.

“Don’t try anything.” He warned, and Gangrel put his hands up, his expression as innocent as it could be.

The man took Robin and put her on his shoulder, closed the cell again, and put the keys in one of his trouser’s pockets.

After they disappeared behind the corner, Gangrel sat back on the floor.

 _“And now, I play the waiting game.”_ He thought, already getting nervous even though a minute had barely passed.

Then an unwanted thought slipped into his mind: what if she had tricked him? Maybe she would just leave him to rot in that prison. After all, why would she care what happened to him? Why would anyone care?

No, no, no. Robin was not the type. He may have known her for less time than the others, but if there was one thing he got about her, even long before they stopped being enemies, was that the girl was loyal to a fault to those he considered her friends.

Did she even consider him a friend? Could he be considered “something” at all, after everything he had done?

Gangrel’s train of thoughts was halted when he heard a fuss coming from outside the cell. It stopped after a while, and then he heard footsteps.

“I’m baaack!” trilled Robin’s voice just as she appeared, a grin on her face, with what had been the bandit’s weapon in one hand, and the keys to the cell in the other.

Immediately, all of Gangrel’s worries disappeared. It must have took him a second too long to say something though, because Robin’s face grew worried.

“Are you all right?” she asked while throwing the axe in the weapons pile and opening the cell.

Gangrel’s eyes remained on her a second longer, then he let out a chuckle.

“Yes, don’t worry about me. Now, let’s get out of here.” He said standing up and exiting the cell.

Robin was still a little confused about his reaction, but she let it go and turned to rummage through the tomes beside the table. “There must be something I can use here. Let’s see…” she said. “Oh by the way, the guard is still alive, just out of the game right now, so we don’t have much time before we get found out.” She explained while she opened a wore-out Elfire tome, and flipped through the pages. “Eh, this will have to do.”

Gangrel took the sword and then raised an eyebrow at Robin. She felt his eyes on her and spared him a glance.

“What? Look, I’m not going to kill him, if that’s what you want to--” she began, but quickly got interrupted.

“Oh, how you wound me! I was just going to say that we could put our dear guard in the cell, instead of leaving him” He vaguely gestured with his hand in the exit’s direction “wherever did you leave him. Wouldn’t that buy us more time?” he suggested.

Robin resisted the urge to face-palm. Why didn’t she think of that? She decided to blame all the hits in the head she had received in the last day.

“You’re right, let’s do that.”

She left the tome on the table and beckoned Gangrel to follow her. After a minute they reached the point where Robin had knocked out the guard. Grangrel made a low whistle.

“I’m impressed.”

“I’m stronger than I look.” Affirmed Robin with a smirk.

“Don’t I know that!” said Gangrel while taking the guard by his arms.

Robin took him by the legs and they lifted him just enough to not make him clean the floor, and put him inside the cell, closing it.

“All right,” Robin started, and took the tome again, “let’s see what’s out there, shall we?”

\---

When they reached the exit they found it surprisingly unguarded. The bandits had probably thought that one man was enough to surveil a prison cell. _“Never underestimate your opponent.”_ Thought Robin proudly.

She took a look around before deciding how to proceed.

From the looks of it they were in a village, or what was left of it anyway.

Some of the houses had been razed, no doubt by the same people that now occupied the ones that were still standing. There were some tents here and there too, but thankfully not too many people around; two men were chatting pretty far from them, and one was asleep on the other side of the camp. And just at a couple of meters from him there was their way out.

Robin turned to Gangrel, “I think this is probably their base, we must be cautious not to get caught, or the situation could get bad.” She whispered.

Gangrel nodded. “So, what do we do?”

Robin thought about it for a second, then her eyes lit up. “I’ve got an idea!” she said while opening the Elfire tome, “I’m going to distract them. At my signal, follow me.”

“As you say.” said Gangrel smirking.

She turned her attention back to the camp, and with a flair of her hand, and whispered incantations she casted the fire spell as far away from the exit as she could.

Not a second after the fire hit the ground, the camp started to grow more lively, with the bandits shouting and looking for a way to put out the fire before it spread.

“Now!” said Robin, and started running for the exit. Gangrel at her heels.

They managed to get out undetected, and when they were far enough to be considered out of danger, Robin stopped to catch her breath.

Gangrel was trying to do the same thing, between laughs. “Hells! That was exhilarating!”

Robin was torn between laughing with him, or collapse to the floor. The adrenaline was wearing off rapidly, and she suddenly felt exhausted.

“Well, glad you enjoyed that…” she said still a little out of breath. She looked around, and spotted a village in the distance. _“Thank the gods.”_

She pointed in its direction, and started walking.

“Come on, it won’t take them much to notice we are gone, let’s not waste precious time.”

“Aye aye captain.” Joked Gangrel, as he started walking too.

\---

They arrived at the village gate relatively quickly, alternating between running and walking, and Robin almost jumped in happiness when she recognized it.

Gangrel had been right, they really were near the sea.

“I know where we are!” she said excited, “This is Valm’s Harbor. I have been here once, while we were helping Say’ri fight against Walhart’s army.” Explained Robin.

“All right, so you know how to move around here?” asked Gangrel.

“Well…not really...” admitted Robin “I mean, the only time I was here was in the middle of a fight. I didn’t exactly had time to go sightseeing.”

She remained in thought for a couple of seconds, then her eyes lit up in realization, “Wait a minute, I may not know the place, but I know who can help us! It’s--” Robin couldn’t finish her sentence as a loud rumble interrupted her. She immediately brought her hands to her stomach in embarrassment.

“Ugh…Ahem…Maybe let’s find somewhere to eat first.” She said sheepishly while watching Gangrel’s expression go from surprised to amused.

“Yes, let’s.”

 

They entered the village and went looking for an inn. It didn’t took them too long, and Robin enjoyed the walk. _“It’s nice to see this place so full of life.”_ She thought while watching all kinds of people buying stuff and chatting with each other.

_“A huge difference from the first time I was here.”_

They stopped in front of the entrance and Robin rummaged through her pockets for some money, only to find 10G. She was torn between being frustrated for not having more, and surprised because the bandits hadn’t taken what little she had.

“Got anything?” she asked Gangrel showing him what she had found.

He turned his pockets inside out. Empty. “Sorry dear, I’m all out of cash.”

Robin visibly deflated a little. “Damn, now what? What I have is barely enough for some water, and we need more so we can get something under our teeth, and there’s the cost of the inn’s rooms for the night...”

Gangrel interrupted her before she could even begin to come up with a plan.

“All right, slow down. I’m going to take care of this, meanwhile, why don’t you go wait for me inside?” proposed Gangrel.

Robin looked at him uncertain, “Are you sure? And you’re not going to tell me what exactly are you going to do?” she asked.

“No. Now go, come on. I won’t take too long.” He said while gesturing her to the inside of the inn. Robin was still not sure, but she was too tired and too hungry to care. She had just the time to warn Gangrel to try and lay low, that he was already gone.

With a sigh she entered the inn, ordered a cup of water and sat at one of the tables to wait.

\---

An hour had passed when Gangrel entered the inn with the most satisfied expression Robin had ever seen. He looked around and when she found her, he sat at the table and dropped a heavy looking pouch on the table.

“Here you go! I’m sure these will be enough for everything we might need!” he said triumphantly. Robin eyed the pouch for a second before opening it.

“HOLY NAGA!” she exclaimed, then immediately lowered her voice when some of the patrons turned to look at her, “There must be at least 5.000G in here! How did you get them? Wait, don’t tell me you stole them?” she asked alarmed.

Gangrel raised an eyebrow, “Sometimes I think you forget who you’re talking to.”

Robin wanted to argue about that, but Gangrel didn’t gave her the time, “Look, the guy I took this from? He was literally drowning in golden jewels, and throwing disgusted looks at everyone else. I’m sure he won’t miss a few coins.”

Robin sighed, “Yeah, ok, I guess you’re right…and it’s for a good cause too! It’s not like we are going to spend this-” she gestured to the gold, “to buy us some trinkets, we need it to survive.”

Gangrel grinned “Well said! Now, let’s get to the surviving part immediately!” he said standing up and going to the counter to order something to eat.

Robin watched him go, and thought about what he had said about the guy  he stole the money from: that he was “throwing disgusted glances at everyone else.” Something in the way he had said that made Robin think that Gangrel might have had some history with people like that.

Gangrel’s past was a mystery to her, she wanted to know him better. To understand him better, but didn’t want to scare him away. Maybe one day he would trust her enough to open up. Until then, she would not bring it up.

Gangrel came back with food and drinks in hand, and put everything on the table.

Robin smiled, “Well then, let’s dig in!”

\---

After they had finished eating they went to get two rooms to spend the night.

Gangrel made his way to his room first, but before he could enter Robin stopped him.

“Gangrel, wait!” He turned to look at her. She took his hand and put something in it.

“A vulnerary?” he asked confused.

Robin nodded, “Yes, for your nose.” She explained. “I know that you said you’ve been worse, but you have to take care of yourself, got it?” she declared. “Now, put that on and have a good night sleep, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow!” she concluded, and with a wave of her hand she entered her room.

Gangrel stayed still for a couple of seconds, then rubbed the back of his head.

“Pah, why are you worrying about me?” he asked no one in particular, while a faint smile passed on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I probably won't be able to post the next chapter for at least two weeks, since I won't have internet! However, I'll post it as soon as I can after that time, since it's ready! And the 4th chapter is almost done too :)


	3. The Search

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here comes the 3rd chapter! :D

 

The Shepherds’ camp was in an uproar.

The morning after Robin had left to get Gangrel back, Frederick had woken up first as usual, to go wake up everyone else. When he had reached Robin’s tent and noticed her absence, he hadn’t given it much thought. After all, it wasn’t the first time that had happened. He had thought that she was probably somewhere in the surroundings of the camp, doing gods knew what.

The first doubts that something was not right, however, arose when Frederick went to wake up Gangrel, and found his tent empty as well.

That sent an alarm off in his head and he rushed to tell Chrom, who immediately alerted everyone to look for the two missing comrades.

He was at a loss.

“Robin is not the type to just leave without informing anyone.” He said to Frederick. “Something must have happened! And the fact that Gangrel is nowhere to be found either makes me really nervous. What if he did something to her?” he asked, his face contorting into a worried expression.

Frederick put a hand on his shoulder, “Milord, if I may. I think you needn’t worry, it is true that Gangrel is not exactly…trustworthy, but he has shown to be changing for the better since he joined the Shepherds. I am pretty confident that he wouldn’t do anything to harm Robin.”

Chrom sighed.

“I guess you’re right Frederick. I should give him more credit, uh?” he said, “Still, I don’t understand what could have happened to get away from the camp? And without being seen!”

At that moment, Cordelia came back from her aerial scouting of the area, and immediately addressed the Exalt.

“Chrom! We found something, though I’m not sure if it will be of any help on tracking Robin and Gangrel.” she announced.

“Yes! What is it?” asked Chrom, his expression hopeful.

“Well, we found what looks like a bandits’ camp not far from here. It should be at no more than fifteen minutes by foot. Maybe we could try and see if they know something? I don’t think they’ll willingly help us, but we have to at least try.” She explained.

Chrom appeared thoughtful for a minute, then nodded in agreement.

“You’re right, they are our best bet. If they have anything to do with their disappearance, we’ll get it out of them.” He announced, “Please Frederick, tell everyone to get ready.” He ordered, turning to Frederick.

“I have a feeling that words will be of little use with them, but if they feel outnumbered, maybe they’ll think twice about doing something stupid.”

“Of course, milord.” said Frederick, and with a curt bow he went to get others.

Chrom’s face remained worried so Cordelia gave him a reassuring smile.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll find them both soon.”

He turned to her and smiled a bit, “I really hope so.”

\---

After everyone got ready, they left and followed Cordelia’s directions to reach the bandit’s camp. Once there, they waited for some minutes and assessed the situation.

They could easily outnumber them, but the real problem were the wyverns the bandits had with them, as Chrom wanted to avoid needless conflict, and scaring them would have surely resulted in an instant attack.

So he decided the more cautious, and “foolishly dangerous”, as Frederick so bluntly had put it, approach, and stepped into the enemy camp with his hands already raised, “Ho, friends!”

Some of the bandits turned to him, and immediately took arms.

“Who are you? What do you want?” aggressively asked one of them. He had a scar on his face, and an irritated expression.

The bandit narrowed his eyes. “Wait a minute…you are-! What is the Exalt doing here?”

 _“Damn it.”_ Thought Chrom. He sometimes forgot that his was one of the few faces that was known all over the continents, so hoping to not get recognized immediately wherever he went was pointless.

“I…well…let me guess,” he said while watching the bandits get closer, no doubt thinking how much some people would offer if they brought them the Exalt’s head, “we won’t be able to have a civil conversation after all, uh?”

At that exact moment Frederick and the other Shepherds came out of the woods all at once.

The bandits stopped in their tracks, but didn’t put down their arms, instead they assumed a fight stance.

“I wouldn’t try anything stupid if I were you. You’re severely outnumbered.” stated Frederick.

“Besides, we didn’t came here to fight, we are looking for our friends. If you saw them, just tell us and we will leave you be.” explained Chrom, looking at the bandit that had recognized him.

“Your friends you say?” he asked.

Chrom saw his expression change, and he felt his stomach drop. “But of course! Why else would that dog and the tactician have been here?” he suddenly realized.

Chrom’s face became angry, “You saw them! What have you done to--?”

The bandit raised his eyebrows, and interrupted him.

“Now, now, being so aggressive won’t help you find your dear friends. I don’t appreciate people like you, dear Exalt.” He said with contempt. “But I guess with a little help from your pockets, I may very well feel more…talkative?” he suggested.

Chrom didn’t think twice as he took the pouch were he kept his money and threw it at the bandit’s feet.

“Yes, that sure is a good beginning, but I still don’t feel very enticed to talk.”

As he said that, the other members of the Shepherds followed suit and soon there was a pile of pouches on the floor.

Once the bandit had taken everything, he talked again.

“This is what I’m talking about. I guess I’ll tell you about your friends. We found them spying on us last night. They are not here anymore though, my comrades brought them--”

He didn’t have the time to finish that sentence when a spell hit him.

It all happened really fast, as one spell after another was cast from an unknown direction, the wyverns taking flight to get away; The spells didn’t cease until every single bandit was dead.

For some reason they hadn’t hit any of the Shepherds, and as Chrom ran to the scarred bandit hoping that he may still be alive, he understood why.

A cloaked figure came out of nowhere and turned in his direction without saying a word. Chrom looked at them without making a move. Whoever they were, they were dangerous, and extremely powerful.

“I am truly sorry you had to witness that, Exalt Chrom.” the figure spoke, voice clearly male. He stepped a little closer to the center of the camp, and looked at the scarred bandit on the floor. “You’ve exceed your usefulness.” He said to no one in particular.

“Who are you? Why did you do this?” asked Chrom, still on the defensive.

The cloaked man switched his attention back to him.

“Uhm? You want to know my name? Sorry, but I don’t have to tell you.” He answered. “As for why I did all this, isn’t it obvious? I just don’t want you to know where your friends are. It would be a problem for us."

Chrom was really starting to lose his patience. But before he could ask anything else the cloaked man spoke up again.

“Don’t worry, they should still be alive. That was an order that would have cost them their life, if disobeyed, so I suppose they must have followed at least that. As for you lot, soon you’ll have something much more important to worry about. But I tire of speaking, and I’m sure we’ll meet again anyway.” He said with a peaceful smile.

“Who knows, maybe next time, I’ll tell you my name?” he concluded with a chuckle, and as fast as he had appeared, he was gone again.

\---

They were back to zero.

No information on Robin and Gangrel’s whereabouts, and a lot more questions to boot. Who was that cloaked guy? And what was the “more important” thing that they should be worrying about?

Once they were back to camp, Chrom entered his tent and sat down to recollect his thoughts. Without Robin, it was his turn to be a little tactical. He had to keep his head straight, and think about their next step.

Frederick entered the tent sometime after Chrom, followed by Cordelia.

“Are you all right, milord?” asked Frederick. He knew he wasn’t, but he asked anyway.

“Not really, but I think I might know where to begin the search.” he started “since we don’t have a clue of where they could be, our best bet is to search…everywhere.”

Frederick raised an eyebrow.

“I mean,” explained Chrom, “we have a lot of friends that reside all over the continents, we should ask them for help. The only problem is the time. It would take us too much to go from one place to another, unless…” he hesitated, then addressed Cordelia.

“Unless you and Sumia went to check in with our friends in Regna Ferox and Valm, while we start looking for them in Ylisstol, and eventually Plegia.” He proposed.

Cordelia’s expression became thoughtful. “I see. That would sure save us a lot of time.” she said. “All right, I’ll go inform Sumia, and we’ll depart tomorrow at dawn, if that’s all right?” she asked.

“Of course. We all need a little rest after today, besides it’s already getting dark.”

Cordelia nodded and smiled, then exited the tent.

Chrom drooped a little on his chair, mimicking the worried expression on Frederick’s face.

“We will find them, milord.” said Frederick. At that Chrom smiled faintly, as to reassure his friend.

Oh, how he hoped that Frederick was right.

\---

 

It had been a while since Robin had slept so well. She really felt rested and ready for the day. And what a day that they had ahead of them.

She freshened up a little and went to wake up Gangrel, but was surprised when she found the door to his room open and the inside empty.

The first thought she had was that he just left her there. After all this whole mess had started because he had attempted to leave the Shepherds in the first place.

Robin mentally chastised herself.

 _“No, no. I must have a little more faith in him.”_ She thought while going down the stairs, and as soon as she spotted a head of red hair, she released a breath she didn’t know she had been holding.

Gangrel sat a table full of all kinds of food, and what appeared to be a jug of milk? -she couldn’t really tell at that distance- and was currently stuffing his mouth.

When he spotted Robin, he beckoned her.

“Well hello there! Nice to see you up and about!” he practically yelled as Robin got closer. She quickly signaled him to lower his voice as she got closer.

“We don’t have to stand out, remember?” she reminded him.

She took a piece of bread for herself, then asked, “How come you’re always up earlier than I am?”

“Eh, I don’t sleep much. I’m a light sleeper, and when I do manage to close my eyes, I almost always have nightmares.” explained Gangrel while choosing what to eat next between ham and eggs.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” said Robin, her expression turning a little sad.

His brows furrowed “You often apologize for things that aren’t your fault, don’t you?”  Robin’s expression didn’t change.

“And before you get any wrong ideas, no, I have been having nightmares since long before I fought you and the Princeling’s group.” he added in an attempt to reassure her.

She didn’t look too convinced, but honestly? Knowing that the Shepherds weren’t the cause of Gangrel’s lack of sleep, really did make her feel a little bit better.

 _“Still, he doesn’t seem too concerned about this kind of things…it’s almost as if he’s used to all of it. Or maybe he’s, more likely, just concealing how he really feels.”_ She thought.

“So”, Gangrel spoke again, effectively interrupting Robin’s train of thoughts, “Who’s this person you know here that you mentioned yesterday? Am I right to assume that you want to get to them?”

Robin eyes lit up, “Oh right! I didn’t got the chance to tell you, did I?”

She took a sip of…yes, it was milk. Thank the gods. “Do you remember Virion?” she asked.

Gangrel raised an eyebrow and made a displeased face. “Azure hair, pompous attitude…?”

Robin grimaced, “Come on Gangrel he isn’t so bad! He can be a little…vain sometimes, but he really is a good person.”

Gangrel rolled his eyes, “Yes yes, I’m sure he is.” He said dismissively.

Robin sighed while standing up and going for the exit, “Come on then, we need to find passage to Rosanne.” She said while gesturing Gangrel to follow her.

Once they were outside, she looked around. “I don’t think it will be hard to find someone who can take us there, but we have to be super careful to not stand out too much. We don’t know if there are any friends of those bandits in here.” She explained. “Our best chance is to find a traveling merchant.”

They both went in the direction of the market, and kept their eyes out for any suspicious person, while asking around (giving as little info as possible) for someone who might give them passage.

Thankfully, it didn’t take too long, as Robin found a merchant named Dek, who had been dealing with House Virion for well over 20 years, who was getting ready to go just there in an hour, for his weekly visit to bring supplies.

She kindly asked him if it would have been a problem to bring them with him, as they were friends of the Duke, and needed to talk to him as soon as possible. The merchant accepted without so much as a complain.

“It looks like our luck has finally changed!” exclaimed Robin enthusiastically when she and Gangrel climbed inside the merchant’s caravan.

Said merchant was already sitting on the front, and getting ready to go. He turned slightly around and asked curious “Oh? Did you guys get in some kind of trouble?”

Robin exchanged a glance with Gangrel, “Kind of.” She answered.

Even if it seemed like the merchant could be trusted, she decided to be cautious. Better safe than sorry.

“Anyway, we are ready to go! We’ll get to Rosanne in more or less two hours, if we don’t make bad encounters along the way.” He said laughing, and the caravan started moving.

Robin grimaced a little. “I sure hope we won’t.”

She wanted to reach Rosanne as fast as possible.

They had been missing for more than a day now, and she was sure that Chrom and the rest of the Shepherds must have been really worried. She wanted to write a letter to let them know where they were and that they were fine. But for now, all she could do was try to relax and wait until they reached their destination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The 4th chapter is almost finished, I'll try to post it soon ;)


	4. Friendly Faces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! The next chapter, as promised (a couple months later, but still).  
> Btw, I have no intention of stop writing this fic. Sure, updates will probably be slow, but I will keep writing it.  
> And your reviews always give me the motivation to keep writing.  
> Plus, I have it all planned in my head, so it's not like I don't know what to write.  
> Anyway, I'll leave you to read now, bye!

Much to Robin’s relief, they reached Rosanne, and consequently House Virion, without any “unpleasant encounters.” Dek stopped the caravan in front of the manor’s entrance, and while Robin and Gangrel got down, he went to talk to one of the two guards stationed by the door.

They greeted him with a curt bow, and then he waved at Robin. “Come, don’t be shy!” he said. Robin and Gangrel got closer.

“I explained to these lads that you are here to visit Duke Virion! They will call someone to see you in. I have to go do my things, now. I wish you the best!” he explained, then went to take his caravan somewhere else.

“I’ll go get someone for you, please wait here.” said one of the guards while disappearing inside.

After a couple of minutes, the guard returned and opened the door to let them in.

“I was told to let you wait inside. Someone will come for you shortly.”

Robin thanked the guard and with Gangrel in tow, they entered the manor. As it was predictable, knowing who lived here, the inside had an elegant and delicate style. Not too many objects and all placed carefully where they would have more impact on the eyes.

“Robin!” a feminine voice called out, distracting her from her thoughts. Robin turned around and was greeted by Cherche’s warm smile.

“Cherche, it’s so nice to see you!” she said, going to give her a hug.

She acknowledged Gangrel’s presence by bowing slightly in his direction and smiling. Gangrel waved a little in response.

“It really is! How is everyone? How are you?” she asked.

Robin scratched the back of her neck. “Everyone’s fine, thankfully. As for us” she said, throwing a glance at Gangrel, “I guess we could be better. It’s a long story.”

Cherche made a little smile and put a hand on Robin’s back.

“Come, Virion is waiting for you in the strategy room. Once there you can tell us everything.”

\---

Once they had reached the strategy room, Cherche knocked slightly on the door and opened it. She stepped in followed by Robin and Gangrel.

Inside, Virion was looking out the window. He turned and opened his arms as a welcome gesture.

“Robin, my dear friend!” he said. Robin went in his direction and they hugged.

“Virion! How are you?” she asked.

“Oh, just perfect! How about you? What brings you two here?” he asked.

Robin had just time to open her mouth when a knock on the door was heard, and another person entered the room.

“Robin! It really is you!”

Robin smiled and went to hug the newcomer “Libra! You are as radiant as ever!”

Libra hugged her tightly and smiled. “Why, thank you. It’s a pleasure seeing you both again.” He said while throwing a smile Gangrel’s way.

It was at that moment that Robin realized that Gangrel hadn’t spoken a word since they had arrived. It made Robin a little sad to think that he was probably feeling out of place.

And oh boy, was he.

Gangrel had always felt out of place in the Shepherds, no matter the attempts of some of them to make him feel more welcomed. It wasn’t their fault, and Gangrel knew that well. He knew that the real problem resided within himself.

Under the mask of the confident and arrogant ex-Mad King, was a man who had made mistakes. Who had taken too many lives, and that couldn’t forgive himself.

Or maybe didn’t even want to.

But that was an issue he had to resolve by himself. No matter how hard it was.

“My Libra is always a sight for sore eyes isn’t he?” said Virion proudly.

Robin couldn’t help but smile at the slight blush that appeared on Libra’s face.

“I know I said this countless times, but you two make a really beautiful couple.” Said Robin.

Libra and Virion had gotten married after Robin’s return to the Shepherds, much to the joy of everyone in the army. It was painfully obvious how much they were smitten with each other.

Especially obvious in Virion’s case, who couldn’t stop praising Libra’s beauty, or the “light shining through his heart”.

Libra had been a little more discreet, but the looks he gave Virion and how he spoke and acted around him were a dead giveaway.

“It’s always a joy hearing you say that.” Said Libra smiling softly.

“By the way” started Virion “To what do we owe this much-appreciated visit?”

Robin and Gangrel exchanged a glance.

“It’s kind of complicated.” Vaguely said Robin.

Virion gestured for her and Gangrel to take a seat in one of the chairs that surrounded the massive table in the center of the room, while Libra went to stand near his husband.

“I’m all ears.” Announced Virion.

And so Robin began to explain.

\---

“…and that’s how we ended up here.”

She had explained everything that had happened until they got there, and cleverly omitted Gangrel’s attempted escape, instead opting to say that they had both “casually” been awake at the same hour.

Libra was the first to speak, “Thank the Gods you managed to escape!” he said relieved.

“Yeah, fortunately, we made it without being spotted, but I’m sure they’ll have already noticed that we are gone.” Said Robin, folding her arms, “They’ll surely for us and-”

“We can’t let them run free with the risk of them attacking the nearby villages to find you. Isn’t that what you were going to say?” asked Virion.

Robin nodded. “Yes. I think we should go back to their base camp, and maybe try to find out who is this ‘mysterious person’ that hired them to get me.” She frowned, her expression worried, “and I absolutely have to write to Chrom, I don’t want everyone to get worried about our disappearance.”

“Yes of course. I’ll show you to the studio so you can write the letter. Then we’ll send it via carrier pigeon.”

He started to get up from his seat, “As for our little expedition to the bandit’s base camp, I’ll get everything ready so we can depart tomorrow morning.”

Robin smiled. “Thanks for everything guys.”

Libra then turned and addressed Gangrel, effectively taking him by surprise.

“As for you,” he said, getting closer to him and eyeing his nose, which was still bruised, “I see you might need some medical attention.”

“Me? Oh no, there’s no-”

“Yep! He actually does! His nose received a pretty hard blow. I gave him a vulnerary but I don’t think it made much. Would you be so kind as to help him, Libra?” interrupted Robin before Gangrel could say anything more.

He threw her an irritated glance, and in turn received one that said: _“Don’t you even start.”_

“Well then, I guess we’ll see you two later. Now, if you want to follow me.” Said Virion l

“Sure!” she said, “See you later guys.” She waved at Libra and Gangrel, then went to follow Virion out of the room.

\---

Gangrel followed Libra to a little room full of staffs and remedies and sat down, frowning.

Libra rummaged through the various medical supplies looking for the kind of staff that could heal broken bones. Once he found it he turned to Gangrel and couldn’t help a little chuckle at his expense. His expression reminded him of the one the children at his orphanage made when he told them that they had to wait after dinner to eat cake.

He got closer to Gangrel, and even though it was clear that he didn’t want to be healed, he faced Libra without saying a word.

“You haven’t said almost anything since you and Robin came here,” started the monk raising the staff a little, a soft glow emanating from it, “I think something is bothering you, Gangrel.” He said.

Gangrel visibly stiffened and averted his eyes. Libra noticed and pushed a bit.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.

_“No,”_ Gangrel thought, _“I don’t want to talk about it.”_

Libra tried again. “You know you can talk to me. We are friends, after all.”

At that Gangrel’s eyes went wide. He glanced a Libra, then immediately looked away.

“Oh dear.” Libra’s expression softened. It was as he suspected, after all.

“You do know that we are, don’t you?” he asked, gentle.

Gangrel sighed. “Are you sure?” he said glancing at Libra. “I mean. How could anyone consider me as a friend? After all I’ve done. I wouldn’t want myself as a friend either.”

Libra was taken aback by his words, but that didn’t stop him.

“Gangrel, listen to me,” he said, “It’s true. You have made mistakes, some more… serious than others, but you have changed, and you still are. Your way of thinking, your actions, all of it has changed. We can’t undo past actions, but we can decide what to do next. Not forget what was done, but strive to never repeat those mistakes. To be better.”

Gangrel remained perfectly still. His mind was a mess, he was taking in what Libra had just said. After a while, he spoke again, his voice uncertain.

“Do you really think I can redeem myself?” he asked.

Libra smiled. “Of course.”

Gangrel looked at him, his eyes uncertain.

“However, I think that before seeking redemption, one must forgive themselves first.”

And there laid the problem. He couldn’t do that. He had tried, time and time again, but he just couldn’t do it. He had taken so many lives, and for what? He had made countless people suffer and slaughtered many others. He had destroyed his kingdom, the same kingdom he had once sworn to protect. He had ruined everything, and for that, he was convinced he didn’t deserve anything.

Libra lowered the staff he was still holding. Gangrel’s nose had been healed. He couldn’t even feel it sting anymore.

“Here you go.” Said Libra.

Gangrel quickly rose to his feet and made for the door, but before exiting the room he turned a little.

“Ah…”

“Yes?” asked Libra.

“…Thank you…friend.” He said finally.

Libra smiled. “Any time.”

\---

Virion showed Robin to the little studio where she could write the letter to Chrom, then excused himself to let her write in peace.

She looked around a bit. There were a small table and an old chair in the center of the room, a window just on the other side of the entrance, surrounded by bookshelves. She read some of the titles and made a mental note to ask Virion to lend her a couple later, as some of them seemed like they could be useful for new tactics.

She finally sat on the chair and after taking a piece of paper and a quill, she began thinking about what to write. However, as she was about to start writing, movement outside the window distracted her.

When she raised her head she noticed what looked like a Pegasus approaching. It took Robin just a moment to recognize who was on it.

_“Cordelia!”_

She quickly stood up again and went for the house entrance. Once there she barged outside. The two guards still stationed at the sides got a little scared because of the sudden opening of the doors but didn’t comment on it.

Robin watched and waited for Cordelia’s descent.

When she reached the ground Cordelia immediately dismounted and run toward her.

“Robin! You’re here! Thank Naga.” She exclaimed while they hugged briefly.

“Gangrel’s with me too! Did Chrom sent you to find us?” she asked.

Cordelia nodded. “Yes, he sent me and Sumia to search for you in Ferox and Valm, while the rest of the Shepherds looked for you in Ylisse. We were pretty worried.”

Robin smiled wryly, “I’m so sorry we made you worry, it all happened kind of fast.”

Cordelia squeezed her shoulder reassuringly, “It’s all right, the most important thing is that you and Gangrel are fine.”

Robin smiled again, this time a real smile, and gestured to the entrance of the manor, “Come, let’s go look for the others. I’m sure they will be happy to see you! And later I can explain everything that has happened.”

Cordelia nodded and together they went inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And voilà! The next chapter is coming, but I still don't know when! Stay tuned :)


End file.
